A 20-person National U17 shortlisted squad has departed Guyana today for Curacao to compete in the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship first-round Qualifiers in Curacao, which began on August 17 and will conclude on August 25.
The squad comprises six international-based and 14 Guyana-based players including two Goalkeepers, five Defenders, eight Midfielders and five Forwards. Guyana u17 Girls Squad – Aug 19 2019
Head Coach of the National U17 Women’s team Akilah Castello, said while some last-minute squad changes had to be made, individual technical and physical evaluations influenced the selection of the final 20: “Continuous individual technical and physical assessments were done to arrive at the final squad. We believe that providing the girls are technical and physically prepared, we will have a better chance at managing tactical decisions one match at a time.”
Guyana will play host Curacao in its first match, scheduled for Wednesday, 21st August, at 20:30hrs at the Stadion Ergilio Hato Willemstad. Guyana’s next Group D matches will be as follows:
MATCH 2: 23rd August – St. Vincent & The Grenadines vs Guyana @ 18:00hrs
MATCH 3: 25th August – Guyana vs The Bahamas @ 17:00hrs
According to Concacaf, there will be 32 participating teams. The qualifiers comprise the lowest-ranked 16 teams, based on the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Ranking as of July 2018, where the top-finisher of each group will advance to the knock-out stage of the championship.
These teams are: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Guyana, Honduras, Martinique, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines and US Virgin Islands.
The remaining 16 teams, consisting of top-ranked teams, based on the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Ranking as of July 2018, will participate in the Finals Championship. Each has been placed in four groups – E, F, G and H – and will play round-robin following which “the top three finishers in each of the groups will join the winners of Groups A, B, C and D (from the qualifiers) in the round of 16,” according to Concacaf.
“The 16 teams participating in the group stage of the Final Championship are (in alphabetical order): Bermuda, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States.
The knockout stage of the competition – round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final – will be played in its entirety in a single match elimination format, with the finalists and third place finisher automatically qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020.”